So I am a 20 year old college student trying to figure out what in the world to get my girlfriend for christmas. She is also same age and in college. I'm looking to spend $250-300. It could be one big thing or many small, doesn't matter to me. What are you getting your girlfriend or wife?

Tiffany's.... Trust me. No girl can resist. You could get her a nice silver necklace or bracelet for that. I'm also totally into watches and have bought my wife almost all of her watches for the last few years. Coach, Nixon, Vestal... They all make nice stuff for that price range. Purses or handbags are good. Again, Coach, Dooney Burke, Louis Vuitton.... Lot's of cool stuff out there. My wife appreciated this stuff in college because it was stuff she couldn't justify buying on her own.

Good luck, man.

Otherwise... I could come up with a million smartass ideas. Some better than others... Adamandeve.com ??? Ha, ha, ha.

I would go with a necklace or bracelet. perhaps a pair of earings. you can definitely find something nice and classy in that price range if you look hard enough. figure out her favorite gem or stone, and get one of the above with that stone or gem being the centerpiece. stay away from rings though! wrong message!!!!

I would stay away from Jewelry... girls are soooo picky, that unless they explicitly say "OHHH I WANT THAT" .... good chance you're buying the wrong thing.... I also think jewerly is good for B-day/V-day, but not X-mas...

1. Nintendo Wii - Girls love it, its $100 used at gamestop (plus its a gift you can use)
2. Spa Day/Massage - Girls get stressed over nothing, especially in college, like $100 depending which place and options etc etc
3. Ugg Boots - they're dumb as hell but girls love them.... and for some reason when they wear them cannot pick up their feet, they just shuffle around like zombies and its annoying as hell - $100
4. A few years ago in school I was at an all time poor so I did this to get out of spending money - made a powerpoint of 50 things we would do together ... just stupid random things here and there, she loved it.... and now if we're bored, we just pull out the list.
5. Gift Cards - usually I would say this is a no-no, but $150-$200 gift card goes a long long long way the day after Xmas, odds are she is going to go shopping
6. A puppy (or a bunny, girls love bunnies)
7. Depending where you live, $300 could take you on a nice little weekend get-a-way... but @ 20 you are sort of limited.
8.Sign her up for the Oprah book club or some ****.... girls like that crap
9. Build-a-bear .... these fuzzy little retards are the quickest way to a girls..... well, lots of places.
10. A nice framed photo of the two of you - they like that
11. **** to make them smell good - Bath crap or other smelly things
12. 20 year old girls love camera - maybe a nice new point and shoot
13. a fake ID

Pick 2-4 of these.
or
Ask some of her friends what she has been wanting/talking about.

good list by Nick, although I would stay away from gift cards. while the thought may be there, it shows a lack of imagination.
IMO, if she is going to bitch about the type of jewelry you got her, she is not worth keeping. IMO. girls like that tend to be too high maintanence.

You can go all the traditional route or scour your brain to come up with something that would be meaningful for her. It's remembering the little things she says. I once got a girl a tape measure for a little gift and it made her cry because it showed I listen. I bought them say girl a Coach purse which she liked too but it didn't bring tears like the $5 tape measure did.

My wife loves jewelery and I don't much care for it. I dabble a bit in precious/semi-precious stones, so I put two and two together. I buy her stones, she picks out the settings! It's awesome because she really feels like it a super personalized gift and she has input so I don't go "wrong".
I really don't mind buying her "jewelery" this way because I'm not paying 10k for a stone that worth maybe 1.5k at a local jewelers. I pay 10k for a stone and it holds its value. I do the same for my mom and sister and it's a huge ordeal for them... they love it. Not to mention I'm getting them something of value.

I've been buying from Rung at AJS Gems in Bangkok for years.. Absolutely stunning gems and their service is to match. My jeweler, who does the settings from my wife, started buying from AJS after he saw the quality of stones we keep bringing in. I know it sounds like a commercial, but I really couldn't be more pleased with the service. In 2006 I picked up a really nice Padparadscha. When it arrived she didn't much care for the color.. back it went without any questions and my debit cards was credited by midnight the day it was received.

They sell lower quality stones, they sell some super high end stuff and everything in between. The pictures on the website is a REALLY accurate representation of what you get.

When my wife and I were dating back in college, her favorite Christmas gift from me was two plane tickets to SoCal. I put the plane tickets in a photo album. At first she thought I just got her a lame photo album for Christmas, but when she flipped to the back the tickets were there. The tickets only cost me $300 and the place we stayed was free cause it was a 2nd home of some family members.

If you or her have friends/family that live someplace distant and fun, that would be a great option.

I personally wouldn't do jewelry. All women are different, but my wife and most her friends aren't big into jewelry. They would rather do an activity or go somewhere. A romantic weekend getaway, snowmobile trip, trip to the beach, wine tasting, day at the spa, etc..

I personally hate jewelery and did at 20 as well. But then again, I guess I am not a normal girl. I don't like designer bags and wouldn't want any boy picking out clothes for me. Patrick has the right idea. Either weekend get away or a nice night out.

go with some sweet shades! got mine a pair a Ray Bans, she really digs Ray bans and always rocks some of the knock offs. not sure which frames they are but i can check if you want. were about 140 bones.

man, i'm sure you are in a great relationship, but I wouldn't spend that much on a gift for her, no matter the situation. Not to knock, but if you're at the level/stage of asking on here, then there's really no reason to pay that much. I did it before. Now I only wish my current girl had all the stuff I gave previous chicks because I didn't know what to get them, but with her it's more about thought than cost, not saying that's the situation you're in, but be careful.

That said, trips or just getaways create cool memories, a lot more than some small electronic gadget or a piece of jewelry.

Thanks for all the post. I understand where everyone is coming from saying that we should go on a trip instead of getting her a present but we are already going to NYC from Dec. 25 - Jan. 1 to celebrate the holidays. I thought maybe the suitcase would be a good idea. Also in the process of booking a trip to Cancun together in the spring. Looked at some jewelry at Kay today but not real sure. I know most of you are probably as clueless as me when it comes to picking out a necklace. This is the one that caught my eye http://www.kay.com/webapp/wcs/stores...64.15122.18013

you could get her a necklace that has different stones to hang on it depending on what shes wearing. most women like different colors so make sure you know what she likes. that will add the personal touch.

what about a point and shoot camera? That way she can document your trip to NYC? I like the necklace you picked out. You know her, so you should know what she likes. I know you want ideas, but really you can't go wrong if you put thought into it.

Train, I wasn't suggesting he spend 20k on jewelery. Only that if he spends 300.00 that he gets his 300.00 dollar worth. The markup on jewelery is unbelievable, but with a little research and care you can avoid the high markup and get a more valuable piece for the same money. My point is that if you're going to spend the money anyway, why not spend it on something of value?

How about a Digital Picture Frame w/ a bunch of photos already loaded...a bunch of photos of the two of you of course.
A couple of CD's (favorite artists/band) or her favorite movie (in addition to the frame). This shows that you listen when she talks and that, while you may be watching the game, you hear everything she says.

Jewelry is flashy and woman definitely love it, but they appreciate the fact that us guys actually listen to them when they talk or that we will go out of our way to come up w/ a gift that is meaningful to the relationship.

Go w/ something that has meaning and suprise her w/ the jewelry on a random Tuesday night. Not only will you win over your girl, but you will win over her friends when they start hearing about what an amazing guy you are. Because, hey, if things don't work out w/ this girl, you would have laid the seed for the rest of the ladies around town.

Personal and Creative: Give a gift of chocolate fun! What can be more suitable as a gift than chocolate? Chocolate is always the best choice for a personalized gift, but we always tend to forget about the box.

Women like you to burn calories. Whatever is the biggest pain in the @$$ to get is what she will like the most. Especially if it relates to something she said once in passing. and you get extra credit if it makes no sense to you at all.